50 Best Ideas Out of 1,000: The winners of the "Give me 5!" accelerator awarded in the IT Park
On November 3, the Bashir Rameev IT park hosted the awarding ceremony of the finalists of the second regional "Give me 5!" accelerator, a digital educational project for schoolchildren aged 10 to 17 from Tatarstan. The project is being implemented with a grant from the Rais of Tatarstan for the development of civil society. The project is aimed at teaching the younger generation to create and promote their own technology startups, overcome technical and commercial challenges and turn ideas into reality.
50 best solutions out of 1,000 projects were selected and their authors received vouchers for a visiting accelerator to further develop their ideas. More than 700 schoolchildren and 38 teachers from schools in 41 regions of Tatarstan participated. The finalists presented a variety of startups: from an app for a school museum of "Military Glory" to a volunteer support platform and an online sports store.
"It is nice that you are turning your ideas into digital solutions. This is not just a competition; it is about supporting young talent who have decided to enter the world of IT from their school days. More than 700 schoolchildren and about 40 teachers already know how digital technologies can be applied to solving everyday problems and issues," Director of the IT Park Ruslan Vlasov emphasized.
The accelerator programme included training teachers in creating PWA apps, holding master classes for schoolchildren, and selecting promising projects. At the finals, participants learned about the use of artificial intelligence in startup development using the MAX app from entrepreneur Vasil Zakiev, after which the best projects were presented in a pitch format.
"Supporting talented young people and creating opportunities for self-realization is one of our priorities. "The projects we see today demonstrate that social responsibility and entrepreneurial initiative can be successfully combined even at a very young age," Director of the regional resource centre for support of non-profit organizations Zulfiya Safina emphasized.
Various projects were presented on stage, such as "Help is Nearby - a platform for volunteers" by Daria Bykova from the Bavy region and the Volleyball.Shop online volleyball sports app by Aleksander Lukoyan from Arsk.
"It is accelerators like 'Give Me 5!' that are shaping a new generation of IT specialists and entrepreneurs in Tatarstan. We need people who are not afraid to experiment, make mistakes, and start over, who see opportunities in problems and tools for creating a better future in technology. This is the second time we have brought together young talent – the future of Tatarstan's digital economy. I thank the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov for the grant support for our initiatives," Tatarstan Minister of Digitalization of Public Administration, Information Technologies and Communications Nachvin emphasized.
Tatarstan Ministry of Digitalization, "Technopark in the Sphere of High Technologies - IT Park” State Institution and "Digitalization" the Autonomous Non-Profit Organization with grant support from the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov were organizers of the event.
The next stage for the winners will be an on-site acceleration programme, which will take place in November 2025.